Re: OT: Californian and Teen Speak

Henrik wrote:
> All of them did the 'i was like' stuff.
I don't think this feature is restricted to Californians.
For most people in my generation it seems it is the standard way
to introduce direct quotations.  Earlier generations would
say:  "And he goes...", but unlike this earlier construction,
the "like" construction can include both spoken and unspoken
sentiments, as long as the unspoken sentiment notionally
records actual thoughts.

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Thomas Wier	       "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally,
Dept. of Linguistics    because our secret police don't get it right
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